GORDON, S., Cairo to Constantinople Francis Bedford's Photographs of the Middle East, London 2014. Hard cover 27 x 28,5 cm. 255 pages with around 200 photographs; on pages 224 to 240 the photographs again but

"In 1862 the leading British photographer Francis Bedford was commissioned by Queen Victoria to accompany her son and heir, the future King Edward VII, on an ambitious journey around the Middle East.

In often stifling heat, Bedford produced over 200 negatives, capturing images of the striking architecture and stunning landscapes he encountered as he travelled through Egypt, Syria, Turkey and Greece."

The invention of photography was first announced in Istanbul's local Takvim-i Vekayi newspaper on 28th October 1839, but travelers were already photographing the empire's landscape as early as 1840.Sultan Abdulhamid II, who reigned from 1876 to 1909, was known as a conservative monarch that was also open to technological development. He was known to have a profound interest in photography, as evidenced by his extensive archives and his proficiency in its techniques. The municipality of Istanbul has just published a three-volume book of photos taken during his reign which will provide a first chance for the public to view previously unseen photos from the end of the 19th century and the turn of the 20th century, as most had only been accessible to archivists until now.